Silence
by littledaybreaker
Summary: In which the team reopens the case of a 15yearold girl who died after she told her boyfriend she was pregnant. The one person who knew what happened couldn't tell the police what happened. Chapter five as of October 27!
1. Chapter 1

_She didn't (or rather, couldn't) speak, but she watched. She was as smart as she was silent and haunted and in her head, she formulated. She memorized the slow, slightly dopey bowlegged way he walked, wondering how it went that someone so empty could have so much popularity, so many friends. She memorized the way she flipped her hair, the way she hung off his arm, the way she giggled and whispered to her friends about him. She memorized the upset in her voice one morning and the way he gripped and shoved her. She memorized the empty space outside of his locker two mornings later, because while he was there, she wasn't. She memorized his bragging words, his "I got rid of that little problem", and memorized the way his movements were now proud, bold._

_She memorized the way the police came, the way they talked and wrote without realizing she'd been writing the same things for months. She watched them closely, wanting to tell them. She knew. _

_After 8 months, they gave up. No more leads, no more anything. They put it in a cardboard box, slid it into a file, marked it, "Collins, T. Jan 1973" and never thought about it again. Nobody even thought to ask the silent, haunted ten-year-old. Nobody thought she'd know anything._


	2. Chapter 2

"Tamara Collins," Scotty announced, putting the box on Lilly's desk.

Lilly said nothing.

"Single gunshot to the chest, multiple stab wounds. She was fifteen, and…pregnant."

Lilly said nothing. Scotty looked up. "Lil? Are you okay?"

"Does it have to be this one?" she asked after an excruciatingly long period of time.

"This is the one the boss told us to do…Why?"

Lilly said nothing, just took the box off her desk and left her office. Scotty and Vera looked at each other, shrugged, and began going through the contents of the box carefully.

"So, the boyfriend, Colter Roberts, was the main suspect at the time. He didn't cooperate with the police and then he left school a few months after the death…nobody ever saw him again. She was pregnant and he was the big jock, guess he didn't want it to mix up his rep."

"Looks like Tamara was pretty popular too. Head cheerleader, Student Council President…Any other suspects?"

"None. The police didn't work very hard, apparently—the investigation ceased after he left."

"Scotty."

Scotty looked up. "What's up, boss?"

"You're going to work with Vera on this case."

"Is Lil okay?"

"She won't be working this case."

"Why not?"

Stillman didn't answer.

"Is she okay?" Scotty persisted.

"She can't work this case."

"Why?"

"She has an emotional involvement."

_Doesn't she always?_ Scotty thought, but didn't press the issue further. He stood up. "Let's go find out the last known address of this Colter Roberts guy."

* * *

"Colter Roberts?"

Colter Roberts, in 31 years, hadn't changed. His movements remained slow, lazy, and slightly dumb, as if he'd been hit over the head too many times. "Yuh," he said, noncommittally.

"Philadelphia PD. Can we come in?"

Panic momentarily crossed Colter's face, but it was gone as soon as it had appeared. "Sure."

"You knew Tamara Collins?"

The momentary panic was back. "She's dead…"

"We know. We're the Cold Case Squad."

"She was my girlfriend." Colter hesitated as if he had something else to say. "She…"

"She?"

"She got pregnant."

"And?"

"She…we…she was going to give the baby up. For adoption."

"But she died. Right after she told you."

Colter nodded.

"Colter, did any of the other guys at the school…were any other guys at the school interested in Tamara?"

"Sure. She was hot property, you know? Hot. But especially Jeff Davis."

"Who was he?"

"My best friend on the football team. The co-captain. He was, you know, interested in her. Said…said she did him."

Scotty and Vera looked at each other over Colter's head.

"Why did you leave school after she died, Colter?"

"I was…you know, upset. Couldn't deal. I loved her, you know, loved her."


	3. Chapter 3

"There are eleven Jeff Davises in Philly," Scotty announced the next morning. "And four of them went to the same school as Tamara and Colter."

Josie looked up at him and giggled. Lilly clenched her coffee cup tighter in her hand.

"It's not all bad news, though," he continued. "Only one of them was on the football team. I've got his last known address" he waved a piece of paper in the air. "And Jo, you're coming with me." He looked at Lilly again and made a mental note to talk to her after he came back. _Just do your job, Scotty, _Stillman's voice rang in the back of his head, but he pushed it aside and stood up. "C'mon, Jo," he said.

* * *

Jeff Davis was tall. Tall enough to make Scotty stand back a bit, slightly intimidated.

"Who the hell are you?" he demanded, eyeing Scotty warily and Josie interestedly.

"Detectives Valens and Sutton, homicide."

"I never killed no one," Jeff asserted.

"You know Tamara Collins?" Josie asked, raising her eyebrow at him.

Jeff's eyes shifted, panicking. "I…uh…went to school with her."

"Can we come in?"

Jeff shrugged, stood back to accommodate them. "Sure."

"How well did you know Tamara Collins?"

"Well, uh, she was my best friend's, uh, girlfriend."

"That's not what he says."

"Huh?"

"He says you said you were sleeping with her."

"Nuh…well. Once."

"Once?"

"We were at a party…"

"_See the breaking glass, in the underpass, warm…leatherette." The music blared over the HiFi. _

"_Hey, Tam!" Jeff called over the music. "Where's Cole?"_

"_He never showed!" Tamara shouted. _

_Jeff started towards her. "Wanna dance?" he asked, starting a slow, grinding dance. _

"_Yeah!" Tamara ground against Jeff, mimicking his motions. "This party is the bomb," she declared. "Wanna get a drink, Jeff?" she asked, gesturing to the long table of alcohol, but Jeff had other ideas. "Let's go for a drive, babe," he suggested. _

"So you went for a drive…and then had sex?"

"Yeah."

"Uh. How old were you?"

"Sixteen."

Josie and Scotty looked at each other.

"What happened after that?"

Jeff shrugged. "I took her home."

"And?"

"That's it."

"So you slept with her and then just totally forgot about it?"

"She was the hottest girl in school. You think I forgot about it? No. I bragged about it."

"That must have made Colter mad."

"Sure it did."

"How soon before she died did you sleep with Tamara?"

"I dunno. A month, two?"

Scotty and Josie exchanged looks again.

* * *

On his way home, Scotty caught Lilly coming out of her office.

"Hey."

"Hi."

"Are you okay?"

"He killed her, Scotty."

"Who?"

"Colter."

"We don't know that yet."

"He did. I know he did. I watched them."

"You watched him kill her?" Scotty was confused.

"No. But…" she sighed, desperately groping in her mind for the words. "They went to the same school I did. I was ten. And I was lonely. So I watched people. I knew something was wrong with them because they weren't mauling each other all over the rows of lockers. Then he was upset, and the next day she didn't come back."

Scotty looked at her sideways. "And you didn't tell the police this then why?"

"I couldn't."

"Huh?"

"It's hard to talk when your jaw is…never mind." She started walking away from him and he grabbed her arm.

"What?"

"Never _mind_, Scotty." She pulled away and started walking faster, before he had a chance to grab her again. _Leave it alone, _she willed him. _Leave _me _alone._


	4. Chapter 4

Scotty didn't go home that night. He felt like he was holding some tiny, if significant, part of Lilly Rush. He felt a surge of power as he walked towards the basement file room, then, almost as quickly, an identical surge of guilt as he unlocked the "Roberts-Ryan" file and flicked through. _Lilly doesn't want you to know, _he scolded himself. He was holding her file in his hands. **Rush, Lilly Angeline, **it read in bold typed letters. He looked down at it. _Who'll ever know? _He asked himself, taking a deep breath and opening the file.

A noise behind him caused him to snap the file shut and turn.

"Lilly, I was just…" he faltered, unable to find the words.

"I knew you'd be down here." She sighed and sat down against the cold, grey metal files.

"I just…" He sat down next to her. "Why don't you want to tell anyone?"

"I don't want people to feel sorry for me. I'm not her anymore." She held out her hands for the file and opened it. "See?"

Scotty said nothing. He looked at the picture and let out his breath.

"I used to be happy. And oblivious." She looked at the picture she hadn't realized she was holding and let go, shutting the file. "Then one day, somebody came by and took that way from me, which was when I realized that I had a will to live. Strength. Something. And so I made myself be strong. I survived that, I could survive anything, but I couldn't ever let anyone know why I was strong like I was. So I let that part of me become a file locked in a basement room. Nobody's ever pried about it. Nobody except you and…" she stopped. "Scotty?"

He wasn't sure what to say. He wasn't sure he could trust his voice to say anything. "What?" he managed.

"Do something for me?"

"Anything."

"If Colter didn't kill Tamara, find out who did. And if Colter did kill Tamara, put him in jail."

"I will." He stood up. "Good night, Lilly."

"Good night, Scotty."

He tried not to notice that she was crying.

The next morning, Scotty approached work with more vigour than he'd had since Elisa had died. He reviewed Tamara's case file twice before recruiting Josie to come with him to interview Colter.

"Scotty, wait." Lilly stopped him on the way out. "Here." She handed him a purple marbled composition book.

"What's this?" he asked.

"My notes from that year. It wouldn't surprise me if I did them better than the original detectives." She smiled a little.

"Thanks," he said, smiling back and walking out of the precinct.

"Jo, hurry up," he called, walking faster than normal. She fell into step behind him.

"What's your problem?" she asked.

"We need to solve this case."

"What makes this one so special?"

He smiled. "I need to do it for a friend of mine."

Author's note (fast one): I love you, reviewers. And also, schools here go from Kindergarten to Grade 12, so I'm pretending the ones in Philadelphia do, too. :-)


	5. Chapter 5

"Why don't you tell me what you did to Tamara, Colter?"

Scotty wasn't going to be bothered with formalities. This wasn't just some other file he pulled off the shelf. It infuriated him beyond logical reasoning. He had to do this. For Lilly.

"Nothing!" Colter looked slightly wounded.

"She slept with your best friend while she was seeing you and you're trying to tell me that you did nothing? And I'm supposed to believe that you did nothing?" Scotty clenched his hands into fists.

"Listen," Colter began.

"_What do you mean, Tammy?"_

"_I'm pregnant, Colter." Tamara's voice was barely above a whisper. _

"_But we never…" Colter gripped her arms. _

"_Me and Jeff did." Tamara's eyes dropped to the floor. _

"_When?" He slammed her against the row of lockers._

"_At Mary's party last month."_

_Colter's fingers tightened on her arms. Tears flooded his eyes. "How could you?" he asked. "How could you?"_

"_I'm sorry."_

"_Sorry isn't good enough." Then, just above a whisper, "I'll take care of him. Get lost, bitch." And when he let go, Tamara ran, almost tripping over the feet of a little girl who sat nearby, writing._

Scotty nodded. "So, what, to get back at Jeff, you killed Tamara? Couldn't've you just kicked his ass or something?"

"I was, you know, mad. But I, you know, didn't kill Tamara. I loved her."

"You were fifteen," Josie pointed out.

_So was I, _Scotty thought bitterly.

"What did you do?" he asked. "To Jeff, I mean."

"Talked to Coach Vincent."

"Who?"

"Our football coach."

"_Hey, Cole."_

"_Hi. Can I, you know, talk to you?"_

"_Sure." Coach Vincent was cleaning up after the fifth grade gym class. "What's up, Cole?"_

"_You know my girlfriend?"_

"_Tammy. Yeah. She okay?"_

"_She's, uh, pregnant. But it's not mine. It's, uh, Jeff Davis'."_

_Coach Vincent raised his eyebrows. _

"_And, uh, I don't think Jeff should be allowed to play on the team anymore," Colter continued._

_Coach Vincent considered. "I'll talk to Mr. Keefe tomorrow and see what he thinks."_

"_Thanks, Coach."_

"_Any time, Cole. No problem."_

"So was Jeff bumped from the team?" Scotty asked.

"No."

"That must've made you mad, huh, Colter?"

"Well. You know, yeah."

"Yeah. Hey, Colter?"

"What?"

"What's Coach Vincent's first name?"

"Uh. Rod."

Josie drove back to the precinct from Colter's house because Scotty was engrossed in Lilly's notebook.

_CR and TC fighting in EHSHW. CR v. agitated, TC c. shameful. Both speaking in whispers. JD h. involved but not present. TC slammed against row of lockers on left side, CR v. sad and angry, TC apologetic. TC holding sheet of paper, pink logo on tlhc. Looks like the form M has from PP, a pt. Probably +._

He smiled as he shut the notebook and got out of the car. He tried to remember ever being that serious as a kid. He borrowed a pen from Josie and wrote on his hand: EHSHW, c., h, tlhc, M, PP, pt+. He'd have to ask Lilly about them later.

* * *

"Rod Vincent?"

Rod Vincent was a short, stocky man with close-cropped grey hair and a youthful expression.

"The one, the only. What can I do for you?"

"Josie Sutton and Scotty Valens, Philly PD. Homicide," Josie explained.

"OK, you've got my attention." The former football coach wiped his hands on his shirt and stood up.

"Did you know Tamara Collins?"

Rod's eyes clouded. "Colter Roberts' girlfriend. Nice girl."

"We're investigating her murder. Can we come in?"

"Sure."

"Tell us about Colter."

"Well, he was a nice kid. A little slow, you know, but a nice kid. Captain of the Football team. A good kid. He was crazy about Tamara. He was so broken up when she died that he left school entirely. Probably could've went on to college or pro if he really wanted to."

"So you don't think he killed her?"

"No. No, I don't think he could've. If you know what I mean."

"Do you think Jeff Davis could've killed her?

Rod considered. "No," he said finally.

Scotty and Josie looked at each other, both thinking the same dire thought: _dead end._


	6. Chapter 6

_IW does not like TC. IW calls TC "helium balloon". TC oblivious or just ignores TW. IW wants to be a SM when she grows up. She told TL that "she wanted to pop that helium balloon" IW idolizes JWG, SoS, ZK, JtR + JD. Mostly people just watch out for IW. She's interesting. _

"If Colter didn't kill her, and Jeff didn't kill her, then what? We just exhausted our only leads."

"Not quite. In this notebook it says that this person, IW, said that she wanted to "pop that helium balloon", talking about Tamara."

Josie rolled her eyes. "You're gonna take the word of a little kid serious like that?"

Scotty didn't look up from the notebook. "I take her word more serious than that of anyone else we talked to."

* * *

"Hey, Lil? What does 'IW' stand for?"

"IW?"

"In your notebook. 'IW does not like TC'."

Lilly thought about it for a little while. "Ingrid…Ingrid Williams. She wanted to be a serial killer."

"Is that what SM stands for?"

"Let me see." She read over the page then nodded. "Serial murderer. TL was Tanya Lewis. I think the other ones are John Wayne Gacy, Son of Sam, Zodiac Killer, Jack The Ripper and Jeffery Dahmer."

"Tanya Lewis?"

"Her best friend."

"Thanks." Scotty headed back to his office to locate Ingrid Williams and Tanya Lewis.

Ingrid and Tanya proved harder to locate than Jeff, Colter or Rod. Ingrid's last known residence (from 1979) turned out to be a condemned warehouse, and there was absolutely no record of there ever being a Tanya Lewis even remotely close to the age that Tanya Lewis from Lilly's notebook. Scotty sighed and turned off his computer. He would read Lilly's notebook again and see what else she had tucked away in there.

* * *

He wasn't really paying attention to the TV. It was just background noise. 

_"The elusive Copycat Killer has evaded Philadelphia police once again. The Copycat Killer is believed to have killed at least twenty people in as many years. The Copycat Killer mimics the style of such killers as Son of Sam, John Wayne Gacy, the Zodiac, Jack The Ripper and Jeffery Dahmer. This evening, police responded to a call from Kensington. A skinned body was found hanged between two trees. No other information has been released. Now, in sports news…"_

Scotty picked up the phone the second it rang. "Valens."

"Scotty, Ingrid!"

"Huh?"

"On the news!" her voice was urgent.

"I know, I was just about to call."

"How come Stillman never had us investigate?" she wondered.

"Because she wasn't done yet?" Scotty guessed.

"We have to find her, Scotty." Lilly hesitated. "Before she kills someone else."


End file.
